Frequently Asked Questions

FAQs

The Incredible Hulk is based on a fictional character created by American comic book artists and writers Stan Lee and Jack Kirby for a Marvel Comics comic book series of the same name. The Incredible Hulk #1 first appeared in May 1962.

Yes and no. Depending on how you look at it, this can be a "reboot" of the Hulk movie franchise, much like Batman Begins (2005) (2005) was to the Batman film franchise. However, there are references to the previous film. For example, The Incredible Hulk begins in Brazil, which is where Hulk (2003) (2003) leaves off. This is because the script that was used for The Incredible Hulk was originally supposed to be a sequel, until Marvel decided against it, and Edward Norton reworked the script to firmly establish it as a "reboot". So basically, it is a sequel in that it continues from where Hulk ended. The flashback to the character's origin is slightly different to what happened in Hulk, meaning retroactive continuity. The reason for the "reboot" hoopla seems to stem from Norton's inability to take over another actor's role without it being considered sloppy seconds or the studio's wanting to separate itself from the wrongly criticized 2003 film, thus the idea that it's the first of a series instead of a sequel. We could also look at the "new origin" as Banner actually returning after the main events of the first film so that Betty and he could try to get rid of "it", unwittingly unleashing it again, hurting Betty, with General Ross pissed more than ever after giving him another chance.

While the filmmakers and cast felt that the contributions Edward Norton made to the screenplay were significant, the WGA felt differently and gave sole credit to Zak Penn. The WGA tends to favor plot and structure, rather than dialogue and character changes, much to many screenwriters' chagrin. It's also possible that Norton requested not to be credited, as he has done uncredited rewrites on quite a few of his films, most notably (1998).

The opening montage of The Incredible Hulk takes place prior to the events of Iron Man 2 (2010) (2010) . The latter half of Iron Man 2 runs concurrent to the first half of The Incredible Hulk as the news report for the aftermath of the Hulk's battle on the university campus is on the news near the end of Iron Man 2. The final scene of The Incredible Hulk takes place after the events of Iron Man 2 as Tony Stark is just joining the Avengers by the end of the second Iron Man film.

The not-so-obvious. Tony Stark makes a cameo appearance at the end of the film to talk to General Ross about the "Avenger Initiative." Stark Industries products are all over this film as well. Nick Fury's name appears briefly during the opening credits on a government document, hinting that, like in the comic books, he is behind the Hulk task force.

Sequel hints. Samuel Sterns / The Leader tries to help Banner cure his condition. Sterns' transformation into the Leader begins to happen when Banner's blood drips into an open cut on Stern's forehead. His head begins to pulse and grow, setting up a sequel with The Leader as the superintelligent supervillain.

Allusions. (1) Captain America when Ross talks to Blonsky about the super-soldier serum that was tested in WWII and was put on ice. There is a scene that didn't make the cut where Banner goes to Antarctica to kill himself. When he attempts to shoot himself, he becomes the Hulk and smashes an iceberg—the same iceberg which is supposed to contain Captain America. (2) Doc Samson: The psychiatrist whom Banner talks to about his "problem" (i.e., the Hulk transformations). In the comics, Dr. Samson is a long-time supporting character and becomes a superhero in his own right when he attempts to cure Banner by draining out the gamma radiation that turns Bruce into the Hulk and bombards himself with it.

He has a cameo. He tells General Ross that they are assembling a team, which we all know to be the Avengers. He knows about it because in Iron Man, Nick Fury visits him at the end. These links turned out to be part of a trend in the certain Marvel movies published from 2008 onward. Marvel Studios gained the rights back to Iron Man, Hulk, Captain America, Thor and Ant-Man. These characters, along with Wasp, were the classic line-up of the Avengers. Marvel Studios' plan was and is to make the individual movies (which reference each other and establish that these characters all live in the same world), then cross them over into a multi-superhero epic (The Avengers (2012)), and has already done so for the classic members of the Avengers.

In the end of the Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) (2011), it shows that Nick Fury, director of SHIELD, already started the Avengers initiative, and the Hulk had already been recruited. In Marvel One-Shot: The Consultant, it is shown that Stark was sent by Agent Coulson of SHIELD to retrieve the Abomination from Ross for the Avengers. But, unbeknownst to both Stark and Ross, the real reason Stark was sent was because Coulson knew that Stark would irritate Ross so much that there would be no chance that Ross would give them Blonsky.

Yes. In Hulk, he was 15 to 25 feet tall, becoming taller the more angry he became. In The Incredible Hulk, he will not grow over nine feet tall, which is closer to his comic book counterpart's height of seven feet. Read more here.

No, but there is one scene prior to the end credits that actually was meant to play after the credits. Tony Stark finds General Ross in a bar and asks for his help about a "special team [they are] putting together".